Author Archives: Aleena C.

AP Human Geography Tips

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I know the first semester just finished for high schoolers and college students so I guess I wanted to give some more AP advice, at least for classes I took last year as a freshman.

If you are a freshman taking AP Human Geography like I was last year, here is what you need to know: Be prepared to read more difficult and complex texts and answer college board questions that require much more thinking than middle school social science classes. Additionally, there are also 3 FRQs (Free Response Questions) that you have to answer in one hour and fifteen minutes, which leaves you around 25 minutes give or take per question. You can find samples on the AP college board by searching “AP human geography college board frqs”.

The practice questions on the college board (the ones the teachers assign you) are very helpful. They are AP-style questions with 5 answer choices (A-E) per question. These questions come with two basic styles. One is set-based, usually with a stimulus such as asking you to analyze a map of Africa or a table for developing vs developed countries. The other style is just individual concepts that they can ask you that you would have to pull from your own knowledge, with no additional information.

This class is an introductory class to college geography, so a lot of the units are on the analysis of maps and applying that knowledge to understand how the migration of humans affects our geography. Also something to note: You need to memorize a lot of the key terms! I recommend buying the AP Human Geography Flashcards from the Barron’s company (the one with 250 terms). I reviewed this the night before my AP exam, and it was really helpful with locking in on key concepts one last time.

Although many freshmen say that the class is difficult (this is true as it is indeed your first AP class), however this experience can also be really fun as well. It teaches something you don’t normally learn, and you get to learn about the different countries of the world. I don’t know about you, but I have always found the evolution and migration of humans a very interesting topic.

Don’t worry, you guys will do great! – Aleena

Quick Tips for AP Bio

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I know many students nowadays are stacking up on AP courses, especially the AP sciences: AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Environmental Science, and even AP Physics.

There are other AP classes of course, but I guess I just wanted to give some advice if you are taking AP Bio this year as well as how to pass the exam and get good grades in the class. I took AP Bio last year (got an A in both semesters and a 4 on the AP test). Overall, I thought it was a really meaningful class and is something you can learn and use the rest of your life. So, here are some tips:

  1. The most important thing in AP Bio is not actually memorizing material! Yes, there are a lot of processes that you have to remember (Krebs Cycle, DNA replication…etc..), but it’s more important to understand the logical processes. How does this work? How does that work with this system? One process that worked for me was to read through the textbook and then brain dump everything I remembered. Then, for the things you forget, you can go back and fill your notes in! It’s a great way to practice your active memorization skills.
  2. I would say the other important thing is to use your AP Bio Princeton Review Books if you have them. I think there are some used ones in the library that are very cheap! They are great, especially for summarizing the most important materials. I would recommend using your school provided textbook and the AP Bio reviews at the same time, so that you can have 1. double the amount of information 2. It acts as a great review!
  3. The quizlets, Khan Academy videos, as well as some of the online free AP Bio tests are great to use to practice as well. Use the quizlets for the class tests! (p.s some of the questions actually popped up on the exam!) Also, the Khan Academy is great for when you don’t understand a topic since they honestly oversimplify everything. There are good online free AP Bio tests that you can use from Varsity Tutors. Nearing the day of the AP test, there is a public 2013 MCQ and FRQ exam posted from College Board (it was very helpful btw and also contained an answer key!)

To be honest, if you really love science, then you will really have a fun time with this class! The labs were really meticulous, but they are tested on the AP exam, so I would also just recommend looking over those before the exam as well. Good luck!

AP Biology books are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Lady of Darkness: Book Review

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I was on Bookstagram the other day, and I found that many people were recommending this book, so it piqued my interest quickly! I read it, and I would say the book is better than I thought! Lady of Darkness is the first of five books, and it is a completed series!

The thing that I found interesting about this book is the fact that although there was romance in it, it didn’t obscure the whole plot of the book. The main heroine, Scarlett Monrhoe, 100% was involved in her own part of the story. Although she was influenced, she never strayed from her own personal goals.

SPOILER AHEAD:

From the first page of the book, you can pretty much guess that she was an assassin, but what the reader doesn’t know is that it goes so much deeper than that. Throughout the book, she’s mourning the loss of one of her sisters and her mother, and she goes through an insane amount of trauma.

For unknown reasons in the beginning, she’s somehow living in a mansion, with one of her childhood best friends, Cassius, under a rich lord who is in charge of her. The story starts picking up the pace when a mysterious man who is in charge of the lord’s armies spots her. From there, she starts training with him, as she is intrigued by the speed and agility that she equally matches.

There are multiple subplots going on at the same time, so it is difficult to explain all of them in order. However, as she is dealing with the mysterious man, children are going missing as well. So, she puts all her energy into finding the children and uses any methods possible to get a clue that might help.

As the story begins to tie together, we see that the mysterious man is the meeting point of all of her problems: her heritage, her mother, her sisters, the assassin lord…

I would say that this book is a good read for anyone who is feeling that rebel in them and wants to give this book a try!

House of Beating Wings: Book Review

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This book has been an amazing fantasy read! I have been trying to find a book that has matched the past fantasy books that I have read (aka: ACOTAR, Throne of Glass Series, Shatter Me, Red Queen…) and this one has met most, if not all, of my criteria! It has those plot twists that I love, the romance, and the world building that is so complex, yet complicated. The premise of this book is about a twenty-one-year-old girl named Fallon who is half fae. She is often undermined by the pure fae and the humans as well.

Half-fae don’t have the rights that pure fae’s have and they are not allowed to use magic. Fallon is stubborn, like most female heroines, and she has a love for animals, especially water serpents. But, she has no magic, which she questions. As a result, people often mistrust her and sometimes she doesn’t even understand what and who she is. However, she has her best friends, Sybille and Phoebus that back her up, as well as the prince, Dante who has been her childhood love.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

Fallon lives with her grandma who is in charge of taking care of her, and her mom who is in comatose state. After she goes out to party one night, she meets a woman named Bronwen who tells her a prophecy in which she will be the Queen of Luce if she collects five crow statues.

With nothing to lose, she goes on a journey to retrieve the five crow statues. The interesting thing is after she collects a crow, they come to life. The more and more crows she collects, she realizes that it can actually talk to her and keeps her company during the journey.

As they get further and further into this journey, she begins to uncover some of her heritage/bloodline, secrets that has been kept from her, and her kingdom’s secrets.

This series is a trilogy, and it is a well worth it read! I am currently on the third book, House of Striking Oaths, and the plot twists, world building, and romance have kept my anxiety and heart rate up there! I really recommend this book for anyone who is in a book slumber and needs a book to take their mind off of things!

The Serpent and the Wings of Night Review:

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I REALLY REALLY enjoyed this book! It is actually one of the few books that I have stayed up late at night reading, desperately trying to finish the book. But first, a quick summary:

This book is about the main female protagonist character named Oraya, who was picked up from a very young age by the Vampire King, Vincent when her entire village burned down. They have a very interesting relationship in the story. You can see Vincent clearly loves Oraya very much, however, he can’t express his love for fear of Oraya (who is a human) as a weakness seen by others.

Oraya is a very strong main character. She is bold, courageous, absolutely fearless, and was trained from a young age to kill, maim others, and hide her emotions in order to protect herself from her father’s court. She decides to enter a trial of sorts in which if she wins, she will get a goddess’s blessings, which will give her power so she will never be afraid again.

As she continues to compete in the trials, which last four months, she is always close to death. This part of the story was the most complex and heart-pounding because it was so interesting to see how resilient she was when handling pain and the thoughts that torture her from her past.

Also, the enemies to lovers trope present in the book was very light, but perfect to the extent that the author did not overdo it. I really loved how their relationship bloomed from being really not sharing anything with one another to trusting each other with their lives. I thought that was very cute!

The book’s plot line was difficult to guess as well which made it all the more interesting to see the plot twists! Overall it was a really great book!

*Be advised this book best suited is for older readers*

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Book Review: Trial of the Sun Queen

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This novel was a very interesting novel from my perspective because it included all the fantasy tidbits that I personally enjoyed. This would be appropriate for fans of Sarah J. Maas (aka Throne of Glass and ACOTAR), especially if you are having a book hangover like I did.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

The story is about this girl called Lor. She is currently stuck in this high-stake prison that she’s been in for twelve years with her brother and sister for a crime they did not commit. The conditions are rough, as they have no clean water, no beds, and are all half-starved. The life expectancy there are around a year or two. The prison is meant to die in, and no one is ever released.

After she gets in a big fight with another girl, she gets put into the Hollow, in which no one ever survives. She’s sentenced for two weeks with no food, no water, and no shelter from the wild magical animals that gobble up humans like her.

After about a week, she suddenly gets rescued by one of the soldiers from a far away kingdom. She wakes up in luxurious clothing, a bed made for a queen, and a maid. As the story progresses, she realizes she is in a trial competing for the Sun King’s heart and the Sun King is very interested in her, even though she is very much overlooked by all the other beautiful fae competing for his heart as well.

As she competes in one trial after another, she somehow survives each and every one. She questions her abilities until she overhears the Sun King, Atlas, and her guard talking about her which makes her question why the King favors her and what she has to offer him (which she thinks is nothing).

The ending I will not spoil because I think it was very surprising to say the least because the story unfolds in a way that wasn’t expected. It is not as good as ACOTAR or Throne of Glass, but its close enough that it will get you hooked instantly!

Fahrenheit 451: Book Review

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I read this book in ninth grade English this year and it was one of my favorite books that we read this year!

I have always been a fan of sci-fi books and reading it actually brought me more insight on the dangers of the futuristic society that we might face sooner or later.

In Fahrenheit 451, the futuristic society is controlled by the government. People are emotionless, have no depth, and just can’t care less about anything. Most people consider the word, “family”, as having the latest gadgets such as T.V parlors and less about human interaction and love between husband and spouse.

The main character in the book, Guy Montag, has a breakthrough after meeting his new neighbor, Clarisse. Montag’s job is a fireman, which in this futuristic world they burn books and houses instead of protecting houses from fires. Kind of ironic isn’t it? Clarisse sees the world much more differently than Montag and introduces him to the tiny aspects of nature that makes it worthwhile to live for such as the dewdrops on grass and just looking up at the moon sometimes.

He compares what Clarisse says to his life right now: Mildred, his wife, doesn’t care for him at all and considers the T.V. parlor as her makeshift family. She also overdoses on sleeping pills, which is symbolic since she knows she unhappy but at the same time she doesn’t know why.

He also had a big turning point as well when he watches a woman burn herself alive in the fire with her books rather than live in a world without them. Montag even questions to himself after and says, “there must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”

There are so many foils in this book, its amazing how Bradbury added so many in a short novel that’s a little more than a hundred pages. You can clearly see the comparisons he’s trying to make with our society and the one he’s created.

Also, Bradbury wrote this book in the 1950s, which means that the things he created in the book such as seashells (now known as modern-day airpods), parlors (T.V that spans the whole wall), and even the mechanical hound (robot dogs) now has been created.

A little more on the mechanical hound: our teacher sent this link the other day saying that “Bradbury really knew it was coming”. The link is down below:

https://abc7.com/robot-dog-lapd-city-council-vote/13290121/

Anyway, a quick summary, the LA police department decided to press the OK button on their proposal to accept donations on funding for a mechanical police dog. Obviously there’s a lot of controversy on this. But, amazing how Bradbury predicted this right?!

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby

League Prelims and Finals for High School Swim Season

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league champs 10 year streak

The swim season is coming to an end, and league prelims and finals competition just ended. I had the best high school swim experience as a freshman on the varsity team at Tesoro High School. Not only was it enjoyable, but I also gained new friends with whom I can now talk with at school!

There were five schools competing at leagues: San Juan HS, Capo Valley HS, San Clemente HS, Aliso Viejo HS, and Tesoro HS.

I saw some of my club friends from Aliso and Capo as well. After I moved club teams I was not able to see my closest friends, but with HS swim, I was able to reunite with one of my best friends from Aliso.

Unfortunately, our coach made us wear tech suits for prelims (which for those of you who don’t know, they are tight full body swimsuits that take around 30 minutes to put on). None of the other schools required their swimmers to wear tech suits, just ours. It was really stressful too because we were the second warm up session and I thought I had enough time to put on a tech suit (p.s I didn’t).

Anyway, the goal was to swim fast enough to get into the top eight for finals. I swam the one breast and two hundred freestyle. For the hundred breaststroke I placed top eight and my 200 fr I placed ninth in the top 16.

On Friday, we swam League Finals. My first relay was the 200 IM relay and I went personal best in the 50 breastroke.

However, I did not estimate my timing well and didn’t realize that my 200 fr final was only three minutes after the relay. After I went to grab a quick sip of water and cooled down, they called my name on the blocks. I immediately ran over, however, I was too late, they already called alternates.

I had a good cry over it, but I focused on my last relay and my 100 br. I ended up going a personal best for the 100 br and went in the fastest leg in the 200 fr relay.

After they announced the points, we realized we won, and everyone jumped into the pool (along with our two coaches)! Our coaches were pushing us into the water while we were trying to the same like sumo wrestlers. It was a really fun experience! I can’t wait for next year!

The Liar’s Crown Book Review

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This novel was a quick read for me and is what I think a little confusing of a fantasy plot.

It is about two magical princess twins: Meren and Tabra. Tabra lives a royal life in the palace, enjoying all royal amenities, while Meren lives with her grandma hidden in one of the slums.

Meren is supposed to protect Tabra at all costs from King Eidolon, the evil king who has been alive for centuries. He is made out of shadow and sheds a new body every few hundred years to ensure that he lives and reigns forever.

When suddenly their grandma dies, Meren is taken by a shadow wraith (Reven), a mysterious man who is made out of shadows and has many dark secrets. They go through a long journey to get to his home which is apparently full of people he has saved and Meren realizes that he needs her help to save his people.

Of course, Meren falls in love with him along the way and figures out that he is not that bad after all. But, they hear news from her sister Tabra who has fallen into the trap of King Eidolon and Meren is intent on taking her place (since they are twins) and it is her duty to protect her. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you all, Reven thinks Meren is still Tabra.

Anyway, the plot just continues to get more confusing until Meren confronts Eidolon and she casts as Tabra to save her sister.

So, the book pretty much just ends with her marrying the King Eidolon and Reven trying to save her from his wrath (yes, there is a book 2).

Honestly, rating wise I would give this book a 5 out of 10. The plot was a little confusing and it just wasn’t as intricate as I wanted it to be. If you are looking for quick fantasy to pick up, it’ll give you a quick fun read.

Book Review: The Sun is Also a Star

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This story is a narrative about two main character love interests: Natasha and Daniel, two young and intensely passionate people. Daniel believes in love, time, fate, and the cosmos, while Natasha is a firm believer of science and all things tangible and observable in nature.

The narrative opens with Natasha’s family being deported back to Jamaica the next day as a result of his father’s DUI, from which the authorities discovered that the family are undocumented immigrants in the United States. Natasha is prepared to do anything to stay in New York because she refuses to accept leaving America, her real home.

Meanwhile, Daniel, who is the son of a Korean immigrant family, is forced to pursue a medical career. He got a interview from Yale in which his parents think is his ticket to a good life. However, he has a passion for poetry. He knows that he has one day to decide whether to attend that interview or save himself from permanently losing himself.

To be quite honest, I was first a bit dubious about this narrative since I wasn’t really much of a believer in fate or the power of the stars to bring people together. However, as I continued reading I realized that we don’t have control over love, and perhaps it does depend on the little coincidences of life that bring people together.

This quote from the book is one of my favorites. “There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will” really explains how love is mysterious in its own ways and maybe really is determined by fate.

This book really is though provoking and brings many questions to the surface. For people who believe in fate and the stars: What really brings people together? Is it hormones as Natasha said? Or is it predestined by the stars and fate?

For people who don’t believe in stars and fate, and instead believe in science: How do we know for sure that our world was created by the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago? There are always things we can’t answer and will remain a mystery…

“How did we go from eyes as a survival mechanism to the idea of love at first sight?”…I guess we’ll never know.

– Aleena C.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.